Information on Parent and Grandparent Super Visa


About the Super Visa

On November 4, 2011, CIC announced a temporary pause on all new sponsorship applications for the parents and grandparents category. With the introduction of this pause, CIC implemented a long-term Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) for applicants seeking to visit their child or grandchild who is either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
The single or multiple-entry Super Visa allows visitors to stay for a period of up to two years.
Important information. Applicants who do not require a visa must also submit an application to the visa office.

Who may apply for a Super Visa?

To apply for the Super Visa you must either be the parent or grandparent of a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.
Note: You cannot include your dependent children in this application. Only your spouse or common-law partner is eligible to accompany you under this provision.

What must I do to obtain a SuperVisa?

In order to obtain a Super Visa, you will need to apply at a visa office and provide:
  • evidence of the parent or grandparent relationship to the Canadian citizen or permanent resident you wish to visit (e.g. birth certificate, baptismal certificate or other official documents naming you as parent),
  • letter of invitation from your child or grandchild which includes arrangements for care and support,
  • proof from your child or grandchild that he meets the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO)
  • proof that you have private medical insurance valid for a minimum of one year from a Canadian insurance company and that:
    • covers health care, hospitalization and repatriation,
    • provides a minimum coverage of $100 000, and
    • is valid for each entry to Canada and be available for review by a port of entry officer.
Note: You will be required to undergo a medical examination. Medical instructionswill be provided to you by the visa office. You are not required to complete a medical examination before you submit your application forms.

What must my child or grandchild do to meet the LICO minimum?

You child or grandchild’s income must meet or exceed the minimum necessary, as identified annually in the Income Table.
In the letter of invitation he must calculate his family size. This factor determines the amount of income required of him to provide care and support for you and your spouse, if applicable. He may use the table below to calculate the family size:
  1. Your child or grandchild counts:
    • Himself
    • His spouse or common-law partner,
    • His dependent children,
    • any person he may have sponsored previously and for whom the sponsorship agreement and undertaking are still in effect.
  2. He counts the number of persons he will be supporting :
    • You, and
    • Your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable.
  3. He adds the number of persons covered by steps 1 and 2. The total represents his family size.
  4. He looks at the LICO in the Income Table in this guide to determine if he meets the minimum required for his family size.
  5. To demonstrate that he meets the minimum income required, your child or grandchild may include one of the documents listed in the Document Checklist (IMM 5484).



Effective from January 1 to December 31 2011
Your child or grandchild may use the following income scale to assess their ability to meet the income requirements.

Low Income Cut-Off (LICO)

Size of Family UnitMinimum necessary income
1 person (your child or grandchild)$22,229
2 persons$27,674
3 persons$34,022
4 persons$41,307
5 persons$46,850
6 persons$52,838
7 persons$58,827
More than 7 persons, for each additional person, add$5,989

Canada issues first 'super visa'


OTTAWA: The first Parent and Grandparent Super Visa has been issued by the Canadian government, a minister announced on Monday. 

"We pledged to process the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa in less than eight weeks," Jason Kenney, minister of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, said in a statement. "We've issued the first of the Super Visas in just two weeks and we remain committed to reuniting families through the Super Visa in a timely manner." 

The Parent and Grandparent Super Visa allows parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to visit their families in Canada for as long as 10 years, reported Xinhua. The visas need to be renewed every two years. 

Until the Super Visa was launched Dec 1, 2011, visitors to Canada usually could only visit for six months at a time and visitors who wished to stay longer had to apply for extensions and pay a new fee every six months. 

Super Visa seekers use the same application form as applicants for the standard six-month visitor visa. They must also submit proof that the host child or grandchild meets a minimum income, demonstrate that they have purchased comprehensive Canadian medical insurance and undergo the immigration medical examination. 

The first Super Visa was issued at the Canadian mission in Manila Dec 14, two weeks after the Citizenship and Immigration Canada began accepting applications, Kenney said. 

"With the Super Visa, we have taken a common sense approach that allows parents and grandparents to spend extended periods of time with their loved ones in Canada, while at the same time, acting responsibly in protecting Canadian taxpayers," Kenney added. "I'm pleased that the response to this program has been so positive." 

The new visa is part of the Conservative government's plan to battle an enormous backlog of about 165,000 parents and grandparents who are trying to join family in Canada. 

Earlier this year, Kenney told a parliamentary committee that the new system will help many families to be re-united. He said the requirement that visa holder buy health insurance will prevent them from abusing Canada's medicare system. 

"The department informs me that they're confident that the approval rate for these parent Super Visas will actually be very high," Kenney told the committee. 

"One of the reasons we are requiring that people demonstrate they have health insurance when they come into Canada, is to add greater certainty for our visa officers that admitting people is not going to end up representing a net cost to Canadian taxpayers," he said.

Fewer jobs, income for newcomers: bank


 
 
Higher-than-average education levels have not spared new-comers to Canada from experiencing higher unemployment rates and lower incomes than their work colleagues who were born in the country, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.
If immigrants' skills were rewarded in a manner similar to that of Canadian-born workers, it would have resulted in $30.7 billion in increased incomes, the bank found in a new study that examines the immigrant labour market gap.
"It is a big number," said Dawn Desjardins, RBC assistant chief economist, in reference to what she called an "untapped" economic contributor.
"Obviously, if people are earning more, they are buying more things. They are buying homes, that type of thing. So you get a spinoff," she said.
Published Monday, the report updates a 2005 RBC study of immigrant employment rates and wages. The estimated earnings gap at the time was measured at $13 billion.
Desjardins said the bank used 2006 census data this time around to get a clearer educational, demographic and geo-graphic profile of immigrants to Canada, relative to the Canadian-born.
The latest report cites a "substantial" deterioration in the relative outcomes of newcomers over the past 30 years, "even as immigrant education levels have increased."
By 2006, new immigrants experienced a "significantly higher" unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent compared to 6.4 per cent among those born in Canada.
Immigrants were also seeing less on their paycheques: In 2005, the entire population of immigrants working full-time in Canada earned an average of $45,000 a year - about $700 (two per cent) less than the average wage for Canadian-born workers, the report found. Since then, the average wage for new immigrants has fallen further to $28,700.
Male newcomers were found to earn, on average, about $16,500 (24 per cent) less than Canadian-born workers, while the earnings gap for immigrant women was closer to $7,000 (17 per cent). At the same time, immigrant women were more likely to be unemployed than immigrant men.
Desjardins said the report was not intended to identify why the gap exists, though quality of education, language skills, credential recognition and discrimination are all considered contributing factors. Rather, the findings suggest the potential benefits from addressing the differences could be significant. "We really want people to know that there is hope. As demographics change and we have less people working in the labour force because they are aging and retiring, we do have a pool of really qualified people around us," Desjardins said. "We want to see everybody working to their full productivity, and that is good news for the economy."
dahansen@vancouversun.com Twitter: @darahhansen


Read more:http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Fewer+jobs+income+newcomers+bank/5885804/story.html#ixzz1h7YFLvjW

Immigrants main driver of Manitoba's population growth: Statistics Canada


WINNIPEG - Statistics Canada figures show immigrants are the main driver behind Manitoba's continued population growth.
Since October 2010, a record 15,770 people from around the world have come to the province.
Manitoba has a provincial nominee program that aims to speed up the process of applying for a permanent visa.
Trade Minister Peter Bjornson says the province's population growth is the third-best in the country.
There are now 1,254,700 people who call Manitoba home.

Total complete applications received since July 1, 2011


On July 1, 2011, the eligibility criteria for Federal Skilled Worker applicants changed.
Between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, a maximum of 10,000 complete Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing. Within the 10,000 cap, a maximum of 500 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing within this same time frame.
Starting November 5, 2011, CIC will accept a total of 1,000 applications from international students who have completed at least two years of study towards a PhD and or who graduated from a Canadian PhD program in the 12 months before the date their application is received byCIC. Find out more about eligibility for this category or see the number of applications received to date on this site.
These limits do not apply to applications with an offer of arranged employment (job offer).
Applications received toward the overall cap: 5 614 of 10,000 as of December 19, 2011

Applications received per eligible occupation:

Eligible Occupation
(by National Occupational Classification [NOC] code)
Number of Complete Applications Received*
0631 – Restaurant and Food Service Managers500 (Cap reached)**
0811 – Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)59
1122 – Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management500 (Cap reached)**
1233 – Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners181
2121 – Biologists and Related Scientists463
2151 – Architects266
3111 – Specialist Physicians369
3112 – General Practitioners and Family Physicians412
3113 – Dentists407
3131 – Pharmacists500 (Cap reached)**
3142 – Physiotherapists104
3152 – Registered Nurses500 (Cap reached)**
3215 – Medical Radiation Technologists30
3222 – Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists19
3233 – Licensed Practical Nurses236
4151 – Psychologists66
4152 – Social Workers255
6241 – Chefs53
6242 – Cooks134
7215 – Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades71
7216 – Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades163
7241 – Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System)74
7242 – Industrial Electricians86
7251 – Plumbers17
7265 – Welders and Related Machine Operators32
7312 – Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics31
7371 – Crane Operators4
7372 – Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction6
8222 – Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service76
*The number of complete Federal Skilled Worker applications received as of December 19 2011 is approximate.
**Once the cap has been reached, we can only accept applications for this occupation from people with an existing offer of arranged employment.
Note: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, the CIO cannot review each application for completeness on the same day it arrives at the office. The numbers on this page are updated at least once a week, but these figures are meant as a guide only. There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap by the time it reaches the CIO. We are looking into ways to minimize the effect of this on website updates.

Applications received from PhDapplicants:

Applications received toward the overall cap: 37 of 1,000as of December 19, 2011

RCMP begins laying charges in Canada citizenship fraud


OTTAWA, ONTARIO, (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney recognized the efforts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Friday in tackling residence fraud in the citizenship and immigration program.
“This week, the RCMP charged two people with offences under section 29(2)(a) of the Citizenship Act for allegedly attempting to mislead Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) into believing they met the residence requirements to obtain Canadian citizenship. CIC officials referred this matter to the RCMP and cooperated in the investigation.
“These cases are just two examples of individuals creating the appearance that they were residing in Canada in order to keep their permanent resident status and ultimately attempt to acquire citizenship.
“Last week, I announced that the Government of Canada is investigating 6,500 people from more than a hundred countries for misrepresenting their residence in Canada. CIC has begun the process to revoke the citizenship of up to 2,100 citizens who obtained it fraudulently and has flagged the files of nearly 4,400 permanent residents known to be implicated in residence fraud should they attempt to enter Canada or obtain citizenship.
“Canadian citizenship is valuable and Canadians have no tolerance for those who commit fraud to obtain citizenship.
“We will apply the full strength of Canadian law to deal with this fraud. Consequences for citizenship fraud may include criminal prosecution, revocation of citizenship and removal from Canada. Permanent residents who commit fraud may lose their permanent resident status and may be subject to removal from Canada.
“There are a number of other ongoing police investigations regarding potential residence fraud across Canada. Our focus is on early detection and we have prevented a number of permanent residents from fraudulently obtaining citizenship as a result of these investigations.
“It will take time to work through all the cases and take appropriate action. However, the government has already made significant progress in dealing with residence fraud.
“CIC and its partners, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the RCMP, and Canadian offices abroad have already removed or denied admittance to nearly 200 former permanent residents, and have denied about 360 citizenship applications where the applicants do not meet the residence requirements. In addition, over 200 notices of intent to revoke citizenship have been issued to those who have managed to obtain Canadian citizenship fraudulently.
“I urge anyone who has information regarding citizenship fraud to call CIC’s tip line to report it and protect the value of Canadian citizenship for those who legitimately obtain citizenship.”
Cases involving false representation, fraud or knowingly concealing material circumstances in the citizenship process – for example, pretending to be present in Canada to meet the residence requirements for obtaining citizenship – should be referred to the citizenship fraud tip line at CIC’s Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday). Tips may also be reported by e-mail at Citizenship-fraud-tips@cic.gc.ca. Overseas callers can contact the nearest Canadian visa office.

Steve Lafleur: Make immigrants pay


By Steve Lafleur
The Canadian government recently announced a moratorium on immigration applications for parents and grandparents of Canadians under the family reunification program. The objective is to eliminate the existing backlog of applicants. A new renewable three-year visa category was introduced for parents and grandparents as a compromise. Given the existing backlog and the controversy surrounding the cost of the program, pushing the pause button may well be necessary. But rather than eliminating the program, as many opponents have urged, the government should instead find a way to ensure that sponsors are bearing its full costs. Family reunification is an important tool in attracting economic immigrants, who are more vital than ever to our economy. Before making drastic decisions, we should examine some of the benefits of the program.
Roughly 24% of immigrants to Canada are family class immigrants. Many admitted under the program are parents and grandparents of immigrants. Given Canada’s extensive welfare state, bringing in immigrants who are past or approaching the retirement age is extremely costly. After all, immigrants over 65 are entitled to CPP after 10 years of residence, and older people consume far more health-care resources than working age people (Half of all lifetime health-care expenses are incurred after the age of 65).
Many people concerned about the cost of family reunification will argue that Canada should reduce the number of immigrants accepted under the program as a way to reduce the cost of accommodating people deemed “unproductive” consuming resources in the country. But there are three important benefits from family reunification that are often overlooked and impossible to quantify.
First, many immigrants will not stay in the country if they can’t bring family members. The cost of having immediate family abroad can be a strain. Moreover, many of the millions in remittances that immigrants send abroad might stay in the country if closer family members were here. Since we need more immigrants to make up for labour shortages, and we want them to be financially healthy, preventing immigrants from bringing their parents can be detrimental.
Second, parents and grandparents who in many cultures live with their children and grandchildren, can provide valuable support to working families, even when they themselves do not work. Whether it is caring for the grandchildren, or helping with errands or tasks at home, grandparents do many things that don’t get counted in the GDP, but do save families money. In doing so, they may indirectly boost GDP: A grandparent available for childcare can make the difference between one income and two.
Third, it makes for more stable and happier homes. One might scoff at the notion of promoting family reunification to make people happy, and if it were its only benefit, we might need to cut down the program. It is granted that stability and happiness are not the primary benefit, but it is an important aspect to consider.
Since one side of the debate is primarily concerned with the economic benefit of immigration to existing Canadians, and the other side focuses on the benefit to immigrants themselves, the debate has been predictably polarized. A reasonable way to reconcile both concerns would be to charge an entrance fee to sponsored parents and grandparents through the family reunification program.
If a fee were to be imposed, settling on the appropriate amount would be difficult. One way would be to use the “net fiscal transfer” per immigrant as a revenue target. This figure is the lifetime difference between what immigrants on average pay in taxes, and what they receive in benefits. The most precise calculation available of this number is $450 per immigrant. While such figure understates the costs of family reunification, at least it would ensure that the immigration system is breaking even. It would raise the fee per applicant too $7,950. The amount isn’t unreasonable. The government could allow for gradual repayment or explore the possibility of increasing the residency years to qualify for CPP to bring down the cost.
Some might say that such a move is as unfair as the head tax once levied on Chinese immigrants, but the similarities are superficial. The head tax was a tax on immigration itself. There was no welfare state when the head tax was instituted. But with an expansive and underfunded welfare state, we need to ensure that we treat existing taxpayers fairly. Mitigating the costs of parents and grandparents of immigrants to our social safety net will be key to ensuring public support for the program.
National Post

Immigrants get fewer jobs, earn less


Despite having generally higher levels of education, new Canadians earn less than their native-born peers and are less likely to have a job.
Simply paying Canadian immigrants as much as their Canadian peers with similar education levels could be worth as much as $30.7 billion to Canada's economy, the Royal Bank of Canada said in a report Monday morning. "While Canada has done a great job of attracting foreign talent, integrating newcomers effectively has proven to be more of a challenge," the report states.
More than 40 per cent of those who come to Canada today have a bachelor's degree or better. That's risen from under 14 per cent in 1981, and it compares to 17 per cent among the Canadian-born population today.

Wage gap

In 2005, the entire population of immigrants working full time in Canada earned about $45,000 on average yearly. For recent immigrants, the average salary drops to just $28,700.
If all things were equal, immigrants employed full-time should have earned $57,000 on average, in 2006, RBC said. That implies their actual salaries were 21 per cent below where they should have been. For those who came to Canada very recently, the gap jumps to 56 per cent or about $37,200 per working person.
Working to rectify that gap could result in a shot in the arm of about 2.1 per cent of GDP that could be added to the economy in the form of increased wages.
"Underutilizing skilled labour is a gap we need to fill and immigrants represent more than 20 per cent of our population," the bank's senior economist Dawn Desjardins said. "Even small improvements in immigrant outcomes could contribute positively to the Canadian economy."
In addition to wage discrepancies, the report highlights a growing disparity in who's even able to get a job.
In 1981, the unemployment rate for immigrants and Canadians as a whole was about the same, at a little under 8 per cent. But by 2006, the rate for immigrants was 6.9 per cent, compared to 6.4 per cent for native Canadians. If typical factors such as education, age, gender, region, and experience were considered, the immigrant unemployment rate should actually be lower than that of Canadian-born people. The "potential" rate should be as low as 5.4 per cent in 2006, the bank says.
'Small improvements in immigrant outcomes could contribute positively to the Canadian economy'—RBC's senior economist Dawn Desjardins
Among those who had come to Canada in the past five years, the rate jumped even higher, to 12 per cent.
By gender, male immigrants had a higher earnings gap than female immigrants (24 per cent compared to 17 per cent). In dollar terms, this is about $16,500 for men and $7,000 for women. Conversely, the excess in the unemployment rate for women was larger than that for men, at 2.5 percentage points, compared to a 0.7 percentage point difference for men.
Interestingly, the gap in both cases appears to be worse in Canada's three largest cities of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Immigrants in these cities had a wage gap of nearly $15,000 or more than 26 per cent; in the rest of Canada, the gap was nearly $3,300 or 6 per cent.
A similar story holds for unemployment, with excess unemployment of 2.8 per cent for immigrants in the largest cities, versus 1.3 per cent elsewhere in Canada.
"This report shows that we are still not recognizing the skill level and talent that newcomers bring to Canada — and it’s as much the country’s loss as it is our immigrants," the bank's director of Newcomer and Multicultural Markets Cameron Mak said.
"Canada was built on immigration, and that’s just as true today."
Source: CBC

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